dead standing red cherry

[cailean]

i have an almost unlimited supply of dead standing red cherry that is dry and beautiful on the inside but the first few rings..{ for the sake of argument we'll say 12 or so} is wormy and spalted...is this wood any good for bows?..{ my friend built a beautiful bow.. gorgeous lines and profile..but it exploded at 3/4 draw after shooting it a few times}...can this wood be backed?...and with what?.. and should i de-crown it so the back is flat to put the backing on ...the grain, colour and beauty of cherry wood is the best in my mind but I'm afraid this wood may be too dry for a durable bow...my friend chased a rind to good wood but it still broke right in the middle of the top limb..{ probably didn't help that it was me shooting it when it broke as my draw is much longer than his but it didn't even make his draw length when it failed }...any help about this would be greatly appreciated

[Pappy]

I am always leery of dead trees,you can try it but I would take a piece of what you plan on using and cut you a small sliver off it and do a bend test and see how it bends,you will probably fine it dry rotted.If it bend good then go for it.
   Pappy

[Pat B]

No good for bows. If it has any spalting in it the fungi is all through the wood. Any "whitewood" that is dead standing is not good for bows.

[cailean]

 Thx for the input ppl...i guess it's just fire-wood...but when i split the wood it was fine and looked great below the damaged surface with no sign of any rot or fungus and just looked "dry as a bone"...darned shame it's no good...thx again

[coyote pup]

Dead trees usually have problems in the wood for whatever reason, that's why they died. I never use standing dead trees.

[roofus]

You could carve a quiver out of it. It'd be pretty.

Rob

[Pat B]

There are lots of other uses for the wood, just not bows. Bow handles, bow racks or firewood are 3 other options. 

[roofus]

Maybe even some arrow shafts? If you can get into some clean wood like you said.
String knock overlays too.


Rob

[Pat B]

Even though you don't see any signs of rot in the rest of the wood, it is there. I personally would not use it for bows or arrows.

[StevenT]

Maybe use some for knife handles.

[adb]

I've had no luck with standing dead trees. Basically, the sapwood is gone, and with maple and ash I've cut, that's useless.

[robby]

Cailean, I'm pretty much in agreement with the fellows here. I think its tough enough to make a (hunting) bow from a good piece of cherry, but if its free and you have the time, give it a shot. What have you got to lose. One good use for dead on the root, black cherry I have found, is in the making of box, turkey calls. It has good rasp, the sound breaks and carry's well.

[El Destructo]

Makes damned good Smoker Wood though!! Cherry Smoked Salmon or Trout is awesome!!! But leave it standing if you don't want Cooking Wood....ain't worth the time to mess with it for Bow Wood....JMO

[Marc St Louis]

Not sure about Red Cherry but Black Cherry is actually somewhat resistant to rot